5/01/2008

Aomori Prefecture (青森県, Aomori-ken) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku Region. The capital is the city of Aomori.

Aomori Prefecture is the northernmost prefecture on Honshū and faces Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait. It borders Akita and Iwate in the south. Oma, at the northwestern tip of the axe-shaped Shimokita Peninsula, is the northernmost point of Honshū. The Shimokita and Tsugaru Peninsulas enclose Mutsu Bay. Between those peninsulas lies the Natsudomari Peninsula, the northern end of the Ōu Mountains. The three peninsulas are prominently visible in the prefecture's symbol, a stylized map.

Lake Towada, a crater lake, straddles Aomori's boundary with Akita.

Like much of Tōhoku, the Aomori region remains dominated by traditional industries such as farming, forestry, and fishing.

Aomori produces more apples than any other place in Japan, especially in the plains of Tsugaru at the foot of Mount Iwaki.
Apple Orchards near Hirosaki City
In spring they are pollinated by hand and later covered in bags to grow unharmed.

Right after the war, one of the most popular aongs in Japan was the "Apple Song" and people used apples to sweeten a lot of food.
Then bananas, strawberries and other fruit came to the market and Aomori apples lost some of their appeal, but later recovered when the type FUJI was marketed.

beni tsugaru 紅つがる "red apple from Tsugaru"
The fruit is oblong, without crowning. The flesh of the apple is creamy white, very juicy, lightly flavored, and moderately sweet. It has low acidity and very little browning.

makkoichi マッコ市 market with a present
On the second sunday in January (formerly it used to be the 15th, the "small New Year Day". Almost all stores in the town of Kuroishi give a special packet to the customers. The sales start at 5:30 in the morning, to give people time to go shopping before going to work.

hookaiori, hookai ori 法界折 lunchbox as offering for the ancestors
It is placed in front of the grave during the o-bon ancestoral festivities. Sometimes the whole family sits on a straw mat in front of the grave and all eat from the lunchbox after it has been offered to the ancestor's spirit.

hotategai no misoyaki ほたて貝の味噌焼 hotate scallops grilled with miso
The scallops from Mutsu bay have a special clear and delicous taste.

ichigo-ni, ichigoni いちご煮 "boiled strawberries"
seafood stew with sea urchins and abalones
eaten mostly in summer.
The name of this stew comes from its color. Sea urchins and abalone are put in hot water or a dashi broth and brought to a boil. It is seasoned with salt and a little soy sauce, and sprinkled with finely chopped green shiso leaves. The pink of the sea urchin is thought to evoke the color of strawberries in the dawn mist.
It is usually eaten on formal occasions along the coast of Tohoku. . . . CLICK here for Photos !

ikameshi イカ飯 squid with rice
ika soomen いかそうめん squid with somen noodlesika no sushi いかのすし squid sushi. This is stuffed squid with vegetables and the legs squeezed in at last. There is no rice
and
ikazushi イカ寿司
without rice, see SUSHI

jappajiru, jappa jiru じゃっぱ汁 soup with codfish. . . CLICK here for Photos !- quote
Available: November-MarchJappajiru is a traditional winter dish that is highly popular among the locals.
It is a one-pot dish (the variety called in Japanese 'nabe'), in which all the parts that get usually thrown away when cooking fish such as the head, bones, skin, and entrails are cut to the easily eatable size and cooked together with vegetables. This dish is a true gem of the wisdom of people of Hirosaki, who really know how to put whatever is at hand to the most effective use. The rich broth made with the head, bones, and skin of the fish is gives a taste so thick and rich, one simply cannot create if only the meat of the fish is used.
The soup is thickly seasoned with salt and bean paste, and is savored together with the bones covered with fish meat, which is said to be the most delicious part.
The peculiar name of the soup, Jappa-jiru, is said to derive from the word 'zappa' that is used to describe the unnecessary parts of the fish, while 'jiru' or 'shiru' mean soup.- source : en.hkg.jp/local

kaiyaki miso 貝焼き味噌 clams and scallops fried in miso
fried in a pan with beaten egg, dashi soup stock and miso paste. Sometimes fish is added.
It is very healthy and was served to sick people in former times, where eggs were considered medicine. Served in a scallop shell it is most decorative.
Well loved in Shimokita and Tsugaru.. . . CLICK here for Photos !

keiran けいらん lit: "chicken eggs" , a kind of mochi
Rice flour is made into a white dough, inside the round balls is azuki sweet bean paste. It comes as a soup, with a bit of soy sauce, flavored with konbu and shiitake mushrooms.
Usually served at celebrationsl

ke no jiru, kenojiru けの汁 vegetable hodgepodge
From Tsugaru peninsula. Radish, carrots, goboo burdock, bracken, tofu and konnyaku are cut in small pieces and simmered in miso or soy sauce until a thick soup is done. Yakiboshi sardines are used to create a delicious dashi broth.
This dish is prepared in great quantity in a big pot and can be re-heated many days.
It was originally made by the housewife for the family to last while she was gone to visit her parents during the New Year period.. . . CLICK here for Photos !

konnyaku 蒟蒻, musubi ito konnyaku むすび糸こんにゃく thread konnyaku bound together in a knot
to be eaten with hodgepodge, it is easier to grip with chopsticks.
It is all white in Aomori, because it is made from konnyaku flour.
There is a factory with a special maschine to bind these knots into the noodles.. . . CLICK here for Photos !

Kuroishi no yakisoba 黒石のやきそば fried noodles
Started after the war as a snack for children.With rather thick, flat noodles 太麺 and a sweet hot sauce. Fruit juice is used in the sauce.. . . CLICK here for Photos !

Kuroishi no tsuyu yakisoba 黒石のつゆやきそばfried noodles in soup
Started in Showa 30, when hot soup was poored over the fried noodles.
Rather special and not eaten in other areas of Japan.. . . CLICK here for Photos !

- quoteYakisoba-no-Machi Kuroishikai
(Yakisoba City Kuroishi Association)
Yakisoba-no-Machi Kuroishikai is a community volunteer group committed to promoting Kuroishi Yakisoba and Kuroishi Tsuyu Yakisoba as regional brands (specialty dishes of Kuroishi) throughout Japan, and contributing to the revitalization and development of the region.

Kuroishi Tsuyu Yakisoba is served with Kuroishi Yakisoba (pan-fried noodles) sprinkled with tsuyu (Japanese broth) and topped with deep-fried tempura batter and scallions. The thick and flat noodles take on a unique, chewy texture, especially when mixed well with Worcester sauce. Only after eating Yakisoba, will you realize the uniqueness of these pan-fried noodles. Please try Kuroishi Tsuyu Yakisoba--we are certain you will find it pleasingly delicious.- source : www.aomori-gourmet.jp

Minmaya maguro 三厩まぐろ tuna fish from Minmaya town, Tsugaru
It is one of the most expensive. Each is caught with a single line and then shipped in his own box (looks amost like a coffin), filled with ice.. . . CLICK here for Photos !

naga-imo no suitonjiru 長芋のすいとん汁

nebutazuke ねぶたづけ/ ねぶた漬け "Nebuta"-pickles
made from the benefits of the sea (fish roe, surume squid and kombu kelp) and the benefits of the mountains (radish, cucumbers). They can be heaped on a bowl of white rice to make a good meal (gohan no tomo).. . . CLICK here for Photos !
NEBUTA are the famous floats for the festival, made from paper with huge illustrations.

Ooma no meguro ryoori 大間のまぐろ料理
Ooma (Oma) is the most famous port in the North.

Oowani onsen moyashi 大鰐温泉もやし bean sprouts from Owani
They are raised in hothouses with hot water pipes in the ground. The beans, kohachimame, are soaked in hot water and then grown for one week. The final sprouts are cleaned in hot water from the onsen ... They are very long and said to be healthier than normal moyashi.
This has been done since 300 years, when the local daimyo ordered the production to bring it to Edo as payment.. . . CLICK here for Photos !

sabappuru さばっぷる / サバップル apple pie with saba mackerel meat
Mackerel meat is shredded in very small pieces, fried with salt, spices, a lot of cinamon and yuzu juice, then put as an upper layer in the pie.
The baker has to be able to cut and prepare the fish as well as preparing the apple pie.
This is a newly created food from a girl of the local high school in Hachinohe town. It won the first prize in a competition for "creative food", because it combines the two specialities of Aomori, mackerels and apples. She also thought of the name and thus became quite a celebrity in town.. . . CLICK here for Photos !

same no atama サメの頭 head of a shark
It is boiled for about 15 minutes, then the eatable parts picked out, mixed with grated radish and miso to makesukume サメすくめ a side dish, even served for the New Year.
Eaten in winter in the Tsugaru peninsula.. . . CLICK here for Photos !
To eat the head of a fish is considered auspicious. And in winter, the type
Aburatsuno-zame or Abura-zame あぶらつのざめ is found in great numbers in Tsugaru.

sarada kanten サラダ寒天 jellied salad
with agaragar kanten. People in Aomori put a lot of food in a jellied mix with sugar and eat it as oyatsu for the afternoon break. Here it is a salad with cucumbers, carrots and other vegetables, lots of mayonnaise and then ... sugar and agar-agar kanten. Udon noodles are also prepared as "udon kanten" うどん寒天.
These kinds of preparations have started to become popular since 1975.

First made as offerings for the deities, later eaten by the family.
During the 12th lunar month (now december) daily offerings of these mochi and a bit of sake are made.
Sometimes a bit of soy been an paste is used as filling and they are fried just a bit before eating.

yakiboshi 焼き干し "grilled and dried" small sardines
for dashi broth, when they are cooked later.
They are made along Mutsu Bay at the Tsugaru peninsula. The head and entrails of small sardines are quickly taken off, the sardines washed in a bamboo basket until the scales are washed off and the back of the fish shimmers. Then they are "sewn" on a long bamboo stick, with the backbones all showing on the upper side, and grilled (broiled) over charcoal for about 8 minutes. Finally the grilled fish are dried in the sun and salty wind of Mutsu bay.
In winter the fish are not so fat and just right for this preparation.
For grilling they are stuck in the pebbles around the fire with a tilt, so that the fat does not drip on the charcoal but rund down the fish and babmoo skewer.

They are the most expensive fish for dashi broth, one kilo costs more than 100 Euro.